You always run. In case it opens up beneath you, splits in two so that each half can hinge up and let boats pass through on the river.
You know, don’t you, that it won’t open without warning? That there …
Fiction
Hard Swallow (Winner of the Tennessee Williams Very Short Fiction Contest)
She doesn’t even bother with a tease. Her bra simply falls off to reveal scars jagged like hand-drawn lightning bolts.
“Gentleman, let’s hear it for Cherry.”
I clap politely like a proud parent at a Spelling Bee while the others
Everyone
The moon starts to stalk Jonah and Sola when they meet under the gaze of the slasher club. The club is Sola’s thing because she only knits and dyes while watching cheesy horror films. She no longer apologizes for her …
Rabbit Ears
When we lived in the attic we were make-believe. We lived off Big Fizz Cola, cans of Spaghetti-O’s, and apples. We used the payphone at the deli and washed our underwear in the sink with dish soap. Sometimes I worked …
The Odds
When I could no longer take the pain, I went to my father the experimental scientist and begged him to undo my miscarriage.
“Do not be a fool, you fool,” he told me. “You must simply return the bedroom and …
Welcome, Jess
Anna was driving us to Wisconsin, and I was in the passenger seat, fussing with the white seam on my—on Anna’s—navy blue swing dress. I’d started borrowing her dresses and skirts after her eyes lit up at me the first …
Saint Rita
I’m no Catholic, but I’m thinking of Saint Rita. My friend Cathy says Rita is the Saint of the Impossible, and since we work the night shift in transcription for HealthWest, me and Cathy get the impossible from 11p to …
Red C
“I’m going to need to return a piranha,” Zeirna Brinck said to the man at Red C Exotics.
“Did I sell you a piranha?”
“No.”
“Then it’s not a return.”
Zeirna studied the man. Receding hairline. Odd blue dot on …
Rain Did This
Some of us are fine sitting on the small steps to our small jobs. I was always fine with it. You could find me on the doorsteps to Malkia Boutique on any given day save Sunday. But that rainy Dar …
Publisher’s Deposition: The Famished Dick and the Wicked of the Earth
I quite understand that it is unusual for a publisher to write an introductory preface to a novel. But the circumstances of this novel are so unusual that I am compelled to author this note to the reader. There are …
